The
parable of Dives and Lazarus reminds us that Jesus was the greatest motivational
speaker ever to walk the face of the earth. He knew how to use both the
carrot and the stick, the ultimate carrot and stick, the greatest reward
and the greatest punishment, Heaven and Hell. These two dogmas are telling
us that free will is not only our greatest dignity but also our most awesome
responsibility. Unfortunately, today all of the emphasis is on the dignity
of free will and very little on the responsibility of free will.

“There was a
rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously
each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered
with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell
from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried and from the nether world, where
he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus
at his side. And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue
for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ Abraham replied, ‘My
child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while
Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here whereas
you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to
yours or from your side to ours.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you
father send him to my father’s house for I have five brothers so
that he may warn them lest they too come to this place of torment.’
But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them
listen to them.’ He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone
from the dead goes to them they will repent.’ Then Abraham said,
‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets neither will
they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’”
(Luke 16: 19-31)

There seems to be
a common misunderstanding that love and fear are mutually exclusive. The
truth is that, at least in this life, they are mutually inclusive. But
is it not true that “Perfect love casts out fear?” Yes, but
this perfect love is not to be found in this life. It is only found in
the next life where there is no possibility of losing the beloved.

In this life “fearless
love” is a contradiction in terms. We fear because we love. We fear
losing the beloved. And we fear in proportion as we love. Our fear is
a barometer of our love. And today that barometer indicates that in spite
of all of the glib talk, and loud protestations of love, the love we have
for God is at a low level.

There seems to be
a pathological contempt for fear, the fear of fear. We are loath to do
anything out of fear. Admittedly fear is not the best motive, love is.
But it is reasonable to act on the motive of fear when the object is worthy
of fear. And there are some things worthy of fear. There is something
worse than death. We can lose the ONE by whom we were made, for whom we
were made and without whom we can never be perfectly happy. The great
irony is that the present day contempt of fear has produced the most fearful
generation of Americans. Since we do not fear God we fear everything else.
We have become the “fearful-fearless generation.” We even
fear to fear.

Many of our common,
daily actions are motivated by fear. Why do we put our money in banks
and put locks on our doors? The universal fear of death is a built-in
protection for preserving life. Fear is the emergency passion that starts
the adrenalin flowing and prepares us for an extraordinary and sometimes
life-saving effort. Without fear we would not be prepared to meet the
great emergencies of life.

Scripture tells us
that the “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs
9:11) The fear of the Lord is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. (Isaiah
11:2) Our Lord who experienced great fear in the Garden of Gethsemane
teaches us, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul, fear him rather who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”
(Matt. 10:28) St. Paul tells us, “work for your salvation in fear
and trembling.” (Phil. 2:13)

St. Ignatius writes
in his Spiritual Exercises, “Though the zealous service of God,
our Lord, out of pure love should be esteemed above all, we ought also
to praise highly the fear of the Divine Majesty. For not only FILIAL fear
but also SERVILE fear is pious and very holy. When nothing higher or more
useful is attained, it is very helpful for rising from mortal sin, and
once this is accomplished, one may easily advance to FILIAL fear which
is wholly pleasing and agreeable to God, our Lord, since it is INSEPARABLY
associated with the love of Him.”

We should not be afraid
to be afraid. We should not try to pretend that we are self-sufficient
and have no fears. We will never overcome our fears once for all. Each
new day presents new fears. The world with its ceaseless competitive spirit
breeds endless fears. Past failures and the unknown future are also constantly
creating fears. Jesus knows that we are fearful and tells us, “My
grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”
(2 Cor. 12:9)

Every
fear reminds us of how weak we are and how much we need Jesus. Every fear
is a new chance to trust in Jesus. Our hope and our trust is not in ourselves
but in Jesus who is all powerful and can help us, who is all merciful
and wants to help us, who is faithful and has promised to help us. There
is no security in this world except the security that comes from our faith
in Jesus. We do not know what tomorrow holds but we know Who holds tomorrow.
Without God we can do nothing. But with God we can do anything He wants
us to do.